Princesses Are So Overrated
by Payson-Nicky-forever
Summary: Pretty much this what I think would have happened had Payson gone ice skating with Nicky instead of her mom in Battle of the Flexes. Payson/Nicky


**Princesses Are So Overrated**

Payson stood next to Nicky, waiting for him to step onto the ice. When Nicky had asked Payson if there was anything they could do together to make her feel better, ice skating was not what he had in mind. In his imagination, it has a _whole_ lot warmer.

"I can't ice skate," Nicky admitted.

"Everyone should be able to ice skate," Payson told him with a smile.

"Not me. I figured I should stick to just one 'girly' sport," Nicky told her. Payson laughed has she took his hand in hers and gently led him onto the ice. Nicky almost lost his balance the second his skate touched the ice. Payson, though, managed help him keep his balance. He grabbed hold of the rail that ran along the side of the rink as soon as Payson let go of him.

"So, I'm here. On the ice. Freezing my ass off. You better talk to me now," Nicky told her. Payson smiled a little as she skated beside him.

"What do you want to know?"

"Why you aren't willing to try 'graceful' gymnastics?"

"Because I'm not graceful."

"You can keep your balance on a little piece of metal on slick ice," Nicky said. "I think you're pretty damn graceful." He took his eyes off his shakey legs for a brief second to look over at Payson. She looked like she was ready to cry, even though Nicky knew she wouldn't.

"I'm not-" she paused for a moment to sigh. "I'm not princessy enough for that. My gymnastics is all about power, not looking pretty."

"Looking pretty isn't a crime, you know," Nicky said teasingly.

"I know that. It's just something I'm not good at," Payson said self-consciencly.

Nicky turned around, still holding on to the rail, and stood so that he was looking down at her. "What on Earth would give you that idea?" he asked.

"I used to love ice skating," Payson began. "I was even in a sort of play thing. I was so excited about it. When tryouts came around, I wanted to be the princess."

"And you got the part, right?" he asked.

"No. They cast me as the prince," she said. Nicky started to speak, but Payson kept talking. "I was disappointed, but that didn't even hurt as what all the other girls said. I heard them talking behind my back. They said that I looked too much like a boy to be a princess."

Nicky, thinking she was jokingly upset, stood there for a moment waiting for the punch line. When none came, he just shook his head. "That's not true. You're the most beautiful girl I know. And you would make a very pretty princess." He said the last part with a smile on his face.

"Then why don't boys like me?" she asked. He could hear the hurt in her voice and it nearly broke his heart to know that he was one of the boys she was talking about.

"Boys do like you," he said awkwardly. Payson just gave him a pleading look, quietly begging him to say something that would give her broken ego a boost. "There's just something you have to understand about boys, Payson: we're jerks. Every last one of us."

"I was being serious," she said in a hurt voice.

"So was I. Like I said, we're jerks. We fall for the fake-tanned bottle blonds like Lauren or the pink-loving preps like Kaylie, and we don't even give a second look to the tom-boy flipping through the air landing a vault that's way beyond anything we had ever seen. Then, one day, we'll just look up and see her. And something just clicks. Then we think about her all the time, night and day. We just can't get here out of our heads. And that girl, that one girl, will change our whole outlook on girls. Heck, sometimes she'll make us forget all about all the other girls.

Payson stood there in a stunned silence. Nicky looked into her eyes and she smiled at him. He took his hand off the rail in order to place it on the side of her face. When she didn't make a move to get away, he took a step forward, ready to kiss her.

Then, once his bottom hit the ice harder than any fall he'd ever taken in gymnastics, he remember they were standing on ice. Payson just started laughing. Nicky, completely embarrassed, had no choice but to laugh along with her.

"You sure know how to cheer a girl up," she said as she leaned down to take his hands. "Here, let me help you up."

When she tried to pull him back up, Nicky jerked her arms. "I think I'd rather stay down here."

Payson let out a slight scream before she landed on the ice between Nicky's spread out legs. He smiled down at her as he wrapped her up in his arms. "You know, Payson," he said as he kissed her on her nose. "You may not be princessy, but you can always be my princess."

Payson shook her head. "No. I'd rather just be Payson," she said with a big smile. "Princesses are _so _overrated." Nicky laughed as he leaned his head down and gently pressed his lips against hers.

* * *

**Wow! I think this is one of the best one-shots I've ever written! But it's midnight, I'm sleepy, and I'll probably hate it in the morning like I usually do with things that I write at night. Oh well, just tell me what you think.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


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